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Alibaba is now doing business in the United States and taking full advantage of the outdated sales tax loophole. Unlike America’s Main Street wholesaler-distributors and retailers, Alibaba doesn’t have to collect sales taxes here.

It has been widely reported that U.S. House Speaker John Boehner has promised that the Marketplace Fairness Act will not surface in 2014. Congress’ failure to act on this important measure is a huge setback for Arkansas’ businesses, for our retail and commercial industries, and is another blow by Washington to Arkansas’ economy.

The explosion of Internet commerce is a classic example of technology moving faster than government’s ability to regulate it for the common good. Allowing a fringe group of federal legislators to slow that process further only makes matters worse.

As Inslee says in a letter urging the Washington state congressional delegation to pass MITFA, the bill is a long over-due policy change to modernize rules on e-commerce. And return fairness to the retail marketplace.